Soybeans Climb as Drought in Brazil Seen Curbing Output

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans rose for the second time in
three days amid concern that Brazil’s worst drought in decades
will hurt crops in the biggest exporter of the oilseed.

Soybeans in southern Brazil started deteriorating in the
past three to four weeks due to worsening dryness, which is
significant because February is the main pod-filling month for
the crop, farm-weather forecaster Martell Crop Projections wrote
in a report yesterday.

“Brazil is the main issue here,” Paul Deane, a senior
analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney,
said today by phone. “It’s also probably a bit more about
demand being pushed back to the U.S. too, because of the dryness
in South America.”

Soybeans for May delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade
increased 0.1 percent to $13.4225 a bushel by 5:22 a.m. after
earlier today jumping 0.5 percent. Futures reached $13.585
yesterday, the highest level since Sept. 19.

China will probably import more soybeans this year, said
Faiyaz Hudani, an associate vice president at Kotak Commodity
Services Ltd., a Mumbai-based broker. The biggest importer is
expected to buy 69 million tons in 2013-2014, from 59.9 million
tons a year earlier, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.